My Italian food
Spezzatino con patate e piselli is a hallmark of Italian cucina casalinga: a comforting stew of veal, peas and potatoes, beloved by kids and adults alike. When I saw bags of fresh British peas still on sale (it is now the end of August), I thought I would like to try a vegan version of the dish: the same ingredients, minus the veal. Continue reading “Patate, piselli e fave a spezzatino – Potatoes, peas and broad beans veal stew-style (vegan)”
“Blessed be the stuffed peppers! what a clever thing they are!…What are they made of? Not much: peppers, bread, a couple of aubergines cooked ‘fungitiello‘ style (i.e. deep fried), a handful of capers and Gaeta black olives, some anchovies and, let’s not forget, a pinch of oregano and parsley, a clove of garlic and few bits of tomatoes. And from these humble ingredients, a masterpiece is born: one of those dishes that makes your mouth water just thinking about them. Continue reading “I peperoni imbottiti alla napoletana (Neapolitan-style stuffed peppers)”
This is the savoury version of scarpaccia, that unusual courgette cake from North Tuscany I described in the previous post; in fact savoury scarpaccia is regarded as the original dish by Tuscan food authority Paolo Petroni, whose recipe I used as a template (the sweet version, he says, came later). Continue reading “Scarpaccia salata di Camaiore (savoury and custardy courgette cake from Camaiore, Tuscany)”
This is a lovely old-fashioned dish worth reviving. Think of a sformato (singular ) as the Italian, more substantial version of a soufflé. Generally, sformati (plural) are made with chopped-up cooked vegetables, eggs (yolks and whites separated, the whites beaten to stiff peaks) and Parmigiano, all bound with a thick béchamel sauce. Continue reading “Sformato di piselli (unmoulded pea pudding )”
A basic and yet rewarding dish from Naples, almost embarrassing in its simplicity. It comes from the splendid La Cucina Napoletana, the book that is considered the bible of Neapolitan cooking, written by Mrs Jeanne Carola Francesconi in 1965 – if you read Italian, you must get it.
I long resisted cooking this, as it always did sound too elementary. Can cauliflower florets cooked with tomatoes be only few notches way from boring? Continue reading “Cavolfiori al pomodoro alla napoletana (Cauliflower with tomatoes, from Naples)”
Italian home cooking 